Ratchet and Clank: Corruption
by Bolt Bucket
Summary: I incourage you all to read my latest chapter. I am currently working on another story that i have actually been planning for three years straight.
1. The book

Please note that my story doesn´t begin with Ratchet and Clank themselves but they will of course come in the other chapters

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In a distant galaxy there´s a planet named Torafa. Once this planet flourished as the capital city of an order known as the The Galactic Crusaders. This union of justice had through centuries tried bring peace to universe by defeating criminals, saving innocents and doing everything in there power to keep every galaxy safe.

Every member through history has had special powers or gifts, these unique abillities allowed them to ease their work a bit. Many had powers related to combat while others had something more connected to wisdom and knowledge and some of them were completely impossible to decipher.

My story happens 500 years ago....

I had just become an elder in the GC, a highly valued possition among the order. It was then when i met my apprentice, he was capable of many things and was everything a teacher could hope for. I can still remember when i first met him.......

"Ah Osmeadus it is good to see you again, i´d like you to meet someone" the lead elder said to me. "As an elder it is your duty to make sure that future generations will follow in our footsteps. The young people will act as our students and we will teach them all they need to know to become protectors of this universe. And so i think it´s time that you meet your apprentice...come boy your new master is here!" he shouted to a door nearby and a male Markazian entered the room he was athletic looking and with a sharp mind. The young man stepped closer to me "Hail master" he said and bowed. I was a bit embarrassed at his enthusiasm and decided to calm him a bit "It is allright young one it´s not going to be neccesery to bow before me every time for the rest of your stay" "Then how shall i hail you?" "Lets just stick with master for a while shall we?"

The young man and i grew close to each other and i knew it wasn´t long until he started teaching me hee hee hee. As the years went by the boy kept learning and never left something unfinnished, knoweledge was something he wanted more than anything, that desire robbed him of his life.

This is the story of **_Daragoth..._**

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After 9 years at the GC academy Daragoth was one of the top youngsters in the entire order, he had surpassed any challenge we had given him and no student could beat him in combat. Then one day his foolishness got hold of him. He had read every book and decoded every scroll, he asked me then "Osmeadus what is in the restricted section?" and i was foolish enough to answer: "Hmm...listen Daragoth i am not supposed to tell you this but...you are a very responsible person so...i think i can trust you" Daragoth listened riveted. "The restricted area is used to contain magical artifacts, these items are extremely forbidden even to some of the elders".

And later that night Daragoth did exactly he was told not to...

He walked slow steps down the stairs and into the library, thousands of books were displayed all across the halls and none of them intrested him. He kept walking until he saw a big door with an eye carved into it. Daragoth took out a small key and used it to open the door. He gasped at the sight he saw: Amulets,scrolls and other artifacts all around the room. He was about to choose as one thing caught his attention, a book that sat on a pedestal in the middle of the room it had a black cover and a bloodred skull in the middle. At first it creeped him out but the longer he looked at it the more he became bound to it. He felt as the book talked to him telling him to read it. Finally he couldn´t withstand the temptation, he took the book to a safe place where he knew he wouldn´t be discovered, he sat down and opened the book......

In a quick flash Daragoth realised he wasn´t at the academy he was somewhere...nowhere, he couldn´t see anything but darkness. "Uh where am i?" He thought to himself when he suddenly heard whispers coming out of the darkness. He couldn´t understand what they were saying but he knew that they wanted something. Slowly he began to realise what they where saying. "Come with us we can show you the truth..." Daragoth was scared at first but then he saw that it was pointless to just sit there in the dark he decided to follow the voices. "Do not fear my lord we will make sure you will prevail" "I don´t understand where am i?" "You are in the void sire, this will be your place of rest when you need it..." Daragoth was confused, whatever this was he just hoped it was all a nightmare unfortunetely it wasn´t. "Why do you fear us sire? All we want is to help you ..." "Help me how? All i wanted was to read a book, i didn´t ask for purgatory!" No one answered him when he said this but he started to see a light at the end of the void and before he knew it he was barely awake.

Daragoth was wakened by someone he opened his eyes and saw that it was the new lead elder Haviir.  
Haviir looked at him in disapointmennt "It is not like you to be late for class" Daragoth noticed that Haviir had not seen the book yet and was reliefed that he hadn´t.  
"Or are you maybe just too good to continue your studies?" Haviir wasn´t exactly what Daragoth would call a good teacher, he was after all very mean to the students including him.  
" I appologize sir it won´t happen again" "It better not!" Haviir left him and Daragoth was going to combat training, he felt something new though deep inside his body was like a seed.  
He felt very strong and was full of energy.  
He went out to the training grounds where a group of apprentices were ready for combat training.  
"Where is Daragoth he should have been here by now!" Osmeadus thought frustrated. Finally Daragoth came out to the field.  
Osmeadus ran to him when nobody was looking "Where have you been boy!" "Sorry master i was...eh...well i kinda got lost and a..."  
He knew right away that this was one of the most stupidest things he could ever have said, the academy may be big but after living there for nine years it´s pretty much impossible to get lost.  
"We´ll talk about this tomorrow but now you have a fight to catch!"  
At the training grounds combat trainer Mudelah was about to start the first match when Daragoth came out to the field.  
"Where the hell were you kid!" Daragoth said nothing he had had his fill of lectures for today and was not in the mood to find an excuse for another one.  
"Allright team we´re gonna go through a couple of practices today as well as work on your powers, that is those of you that have combat related powers.  
The house games will also be starting this afternoon.  
Oh and Daragoth you will be leading the team today make me proud!"  
The annual house games where held once a year, every side of the academy fights against eachother to win the yearly golden staff.  
The golden staff was once the property of a legendery Crusader, a hero and Master elder of the GC.  
The bell had just ringed inside the old arena and next up was a member from the east side V.S a member of the north side.  
And so match after match the games continued, in the last match the south side(Daragoth´s team)where one point away from winning the game.  
Daragoth had to face the the north side´s champion Morrolk.  
Morrolk was one of the toughest of all the students in the academy and his favorite subject was combat after all he was an Agorian.  
The trainers told Daragoth to enter the ring and the same thing they said to Morrolk, as they both where stationed in the ring he saw an ugly smile on Morrolk´s face and he could easily tell what he was thinking.  
Ever since he humilliated Morrolk at the last christmas ball he had been itching to break every bone in Daragoth´s body.  
The match had begun and Morrolk swung his mace at Daragoth with as much power as he could.  
Daragoth managed to avoid it and tried to bring his own hits in.  
The battle continued and always when it looked certain that Morrolk would win Daragoth always found a way to tip the scales back in his favor. But suddenly when Daragoth was about to strike the finnishing blow he started to faint, the voices he had heard last night when he read the book where coming back "No...leave me...get out of my HEAD!" he screamed so everybody could hear. Morrolk didn´t wait to find out what was going on but he took the chance as soon as he saw it. He grabbed his mace and hurled with the all strength he could muster right into Daragoth´s stomach. Daragoth who still was dazed by the terrafying images suffered the blow greatly as he flew out of the stadium and landed right on a crowd seat. He had been defeated for the first time in his life.

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Okay guys hoped you liked it and i can´t wait to put the main characters in the story. And just in case you were wondering the guy telling the story is Osmeadus Daragoth´s teacher


	2. Nightmares

Okay guys here´s chapter 2 enjoy!

Text´s been fixed :)

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Daragoth walked to his quarters in shame, the South side had lost the the games and it was all becuse of him.  
The worst part was that he had been nominated the most talented duelist in the academy and the fact he lost a fight for his own team meant that he would probably be hated for the rest of his was hard to imagine that he would spend his last year before graduation as an outcast.  
On his way to the dorms he was blocked by a couple of students from the South side, he knew right away why they where here.  
"Well well if it isn´t the rat that cost us the games!" an apprentice named Farrol said to him, he was Haviir´s son and was even more dislikeable than his father.  
"Yeah you ruined our last chance for the games ya twit!" said another student behind Farrol.  
Daragoth tried solve this peacefuly: "Listen you guys-" he didn't get to finnish becuse Farrol shoved backwards and he fell "What´s the matter loser?, not good on your feet?" now Daragoth was pissed, this day had been almost nothing but trouble for him and he couldn´t take it any more.  
He tried to stand up when Farrol shot a beam of energy from his hands and knocked him back again.  
He wanted to use his own powers but he knew it was against the rules, nobody was allowed to use their powers outside classes.  
He saw that Farrol was building up more energy, he had to act quickly before he would get another bolt in his face. Daragoth quickly stood up and threw a cup at him he found on the table, he hit Farrol directly on the head and disrupted his charge.  
Farrol´s temper was running short and without even thinking about what he was doing he ran against Daragoth and punched him in the face.  
Daragoth felt the taste of blood in his mouth and his lip was hurt, he wanted nothing more than to punch him back.  
He suddenly started hearing something "Oh no...not again!" he thought with fear as the voices came back.  
"We can help you master...if you only allow us" "No NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Daragoth´s eyes started to glow with red colours and his skin grew black and purple.  
Farrol and his lackies yelled in terror when they saw the monstrosity that now stood before them.  
Two dark figures appeared behind Daragoth who was taking a look at his new body.  
"Well well well this is an intresting turn of events" he chuckled with a voice that would send a good shiver down your spine."Now...how about we play a little game?" Farrol just sat in a corner whithout saying a word, he as so scared you could see tears coming from his eyes.  
"It´s a little thing i like to call 'Hide and die' HAHAHAHA!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Daragoth screamed while lying in his bed.  
He was having a hard time catching his breath and was sweating like hell.  
"Where...wha...uh...where am i?"  
He looked around confused and to his relief he was in his quarters.  
Osmeadus opened the door and ran to him "Daragoth is everything allright?" Daragoth nodded slightly.  
Osmeadus waited for him to give him a spoken answer, finally Daragoth started talking: "Master...can i ask you something?" "Of course my child" Daragoth took a brake before he continued  
"Have you ever been to the restricted section yourself?" Osmeadus was surprised when he asked this but nonetheless he gave him the answer:"Yes...fifty years ago i was allowed into the forbidden chamber, they showed me things that a mortal soul should never have to face. Items that could lay waste to an entire space sector"  
Daragoth thought about the book he took from the section, luckily he had managed to hide it in his bedroom.  
"Anyway you should get some rest, a good night sleep equals a healthy hero" He was about to leave the room but stopped by the door "Daragoth..." "Yes master?" "Don´t blame yourself for what happened at the games, things like that can happen to the greatest warriors.  
Good night boy" Omeadus left him and closed the door behind him. Daragoth was still trying to wipe away those horrible memories of him turning into the monster he had been dreaming about, eventually he managed get some actual sleep.

Daragoth woke up in the morning feeling a bit better since last night, the calming words of his master had helped him alot.  
When he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth he began to notice something: His nails where unusually long and his hair was starting to grow darker.  
He wanted to ignore this but he knew it wouldn´t look good in front of the other students (not that his reputation hadn´t already been ruined) he decided to worry about it later.  
Daragoth made his way down to the mess hall for breakfest and despite all the bad dreams and some nasty luck in combat he was feeling pretty good, he had that wierd feeling again in his stomach like some sort of energy boost.  
When he came to the mess hall he noticed alot of angry faces that pointed directly to him, he well understood why.  
Daragoth was wondering if he should return the book to the restricted section or he should find a way to destroy it.  
Both of these ideas where no easy job but either of them had done before someone would find out about the book.  
So far that thing had brought enough problems for him to have a good reason to get rid of it.  
Daragoth went back to his quarters to get that book, he hadn´t read it ever since he got stuck in that void becuse of it and he wasn´t planning to do it again.  
He opened the door to his room and started looking for the book.  
As Daragoth continued to search for it he didn´t notice a strange glow coming from the closet, the funny thing was that after fifteen minutes of searching with no luck he began to realise that he didn´t even remember where he put it in the first place.  
The glow was starting to grow bigger and brighter, it didn´t take long now for Daragoth to see it.  
He walked slow steps to his closet in hopes of finding the book.  
And yes the book was in the closet but something was diferent about it.  
The skull in the middle was more noticeable and some bizzare markings had appeared on the cover.  
Once again he felt this terrible urge to read it but since he knew what was probably going to happen it was not as strong as before.  
Still the book´s efect on him was very gripping even for a person as mind-willed as Daragoth.  
Suddenly the book started to hover in the air, Daragoth noticed that it was slowly opening itself.  
As the book grew closer to opening itself he felt the urge tighten around him.  
Daragoth couldn´t take it anymore he had to read the book, he reached out for it and grabbed it.  
His uncontrollable hands opened the book and Daragoth knew he about to get sucked in again and boy was he right.  
A flash of light came bursting into his eyes and again Daragoth was in the void.  
He looked around in hopes of finding a way out, then the voices returned "Ah welcome back dark one" "What´s that title suppose mean!" Daragoth was getting tired of this game "It is your destiny my lord, to be feared by all mortals!" "I don´t understand...what do you want with me?" "Follow us master" Suddenly stairs appeared in front of Daragoth, he did as the voices told him and followed them up the stairs.

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Allright i hope this satisfied you until the next chapter.

WARNING SPOILER:

Take a good last look at Daragoth for he won´t be the same when he returns.


	3. Answers from shades

Allright for those of you who think my story is lame i still encourage you to read it, this chapter should make you feel a little bit better

And for those who think my story is cool so far then i hope you enjoy this one!

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Daragoth´s feet were aching by the time he got up. When he could finally see what was waiting for him on the other side he saw a portal in front of him, there was no other way out so he assumed that this was his only option. He entered the portal and before he knew it he was standing on solid ground, Daragoth looked around and found out that he was on a planet...at least for the moment. He decided to take a walk around the place. Daragoth explored all kinds of wierd plantlife, the landscape was gray and the sky was always dark. For a second Daragoth thought that this planet was probably un-inhabited but that was before he noticed a huge structure only a mile away. He ran as fast as he could in hopes of finding a ship. When he came to the strange looking building the voices came again.

"How was the trip master?" one of them asked coldly.

"Very enjoyable...can i get some answers now?"

"You will sire follow us" Daragoth just sighed, he was sick of all the riddles and creepy visions. When he was about to step forward the shadows were starting to take form, two shady inviduals appeared who mysteriusly were very familliar to him but he couldn´t get his hands on why. One of them raised his hand and pointed him to come closer, he did as he was told although he had his doubts. They walked to the main door and into the building, after only a few minutes of walking through the facillity he could tell right away that it was some kind of factory. When they came to gap somewhere in the middle of the building he was about to ask what they were going to now, the figures casted some sort of a levitation spell and Daragoth could feel himself being lifted up in the air and to a platform nearby. They had been walking for a couple of minutes now and Daragoth had bumped several times into a robot but it seemed like they didn´t even know he existed wich was quite strange since he was sure they were security bots. Even though he thought he wouldn´t get an answer he tried asking the figures: "Aren´t those robots supposed to be stopping us or something?"

"We are in the ethereal realm my lord. We are completely invisible to all sentinent beings"  
"And unhearable" the other one added. Daragoth had heard of the etheral realm but he never knew it´s exact purpose, from what he learned about the realm it was also a time altering plane although most people didn´t belive that. They continued walking down the halls until they came into a secured room somewhere in the upper levels, there was a big computer on the wall wich he would consider to be the main control hub. The shades stopped in their tracks when the door shut behind them, they just stood there and said nothing. "Hello why are we stopping?" Daragoth said impatiant "Patience sire, he´ll be here soon..." Daragoth couldn´t understand what was going on but he found out soon. A small figure came hovering into the room and started to fiddle with the computer. Daragoth´s curiosity led him closer to the creature. "Take care XJ-0461..." the figure said before leaving the room.

For a minute Daragoth felt like he was about to barf up his intestines, it was like he was being ripped limb from limb only by hearing those last words. He fell to the ground and weeped in pain, those terrible nightmares would never stop haunting him unless he would give in. But he didn´t even know what they wanted.

He woke up shortly after with a terrible headache. He was now somewhere else, he had no idea where but he had to find out. He could see that this time he was on a woodland planet, it was late at hour and he could see the moon in the sky. No matter the horrible things he had to weather this sight was indeed beutiful, that is until he could see smoke blocking his view. It came from a city no doubt as he cold also see fires in the distance. Daragoth tried to hurry as he ran to the city with all the strength he had left. When finally he came to the area he could see it was far too late, he could see no survivors and the city was almost nothing but ruins. In the middle of the city he could see a large metal dome big enough to hold an entire army hostage. "Do you wish to go in for a closer look sire ?" a familliar voice asked. Daragoth didn´t have the strength to question them further so he just nodded in approval. "Very good master..." Daragoth felt himself being teleported closer to the city. They where inside the building when teleporter closed, the place was a giant room with a few balconies here and there. He walked a few steps not seeing the shades anywhere, when he came to one of the balconies he could see a huge amount of people gathering below. Daragoth could still hear the cries of battle outside and was started to get worried. He tried getting a closer look at the people beneath him..."Lombaxes" he thought quickly. Lombaxes were one of the most easiest races to figure out from a distance, their long ears and fur colours were really quite obvius. The sounds outside were starting to get louder and the higher it got the more he wanted out of this place, after a number of minutes waiting the shades came for him. "Sorry we had you waiting my lord, there were a few...casualties along the way" "Like what?"

"Oh just a couple of troopers that´s all..." The second shade confirmed. Daragoth was still uncomfortable with these characters taking him around and terrafying him with nightmares but what really was annoying him was the fact that he didn´t even know why.

"Ahh i see you have found them well done sire..." One of them said while pointing at the large crowd down there. "Well it was pretty hard not to notice, what are they doing down there anyway?" "A mistake that´s what they´re doing" The shade spat. Daragoth could easily tell that he was disgusted at the actions of the Lombaxes, but that idea soon wanished as he could see an evil smirk on the shade´s face(although it was hard to tell as his face was bareley visable)

"Wich is exactly what will allow you to take your throne master he he he" "Excuse me?" Daragoth said confused "You are destinied for greatness sire, to rule over all life for eternety!" Daragoth was just as shocked as he was angry. "Oh...well if i´m supposed to play king for you then why the hell are torturing me with your despicable visions?" The shades just looked at one another before letting out a sad face. "As much as it hurts us to preform these dark rituals it is more than necesery. You must learn of your destiny, your tasks...your enemies" "And what if i refuse to become the ringleader for you little wisps" "I´m afraid you do not have much of a choice young master..." The shades were starting to change their tone a bit though still being patiant with the boy. Daragoth saw that this was his cue to cool off before things got rowdy, he decided to change the subject. "You mentioned a mistake?" "Yes indeed, i will tell you more about that later..." "You have seen enough here for the moment now we must show you what is happening on the outside" The other one said. Daragoth shivered just thinking about what was going on out there and hoped the ethereal efect was still in.

They went through the wall and levitated among the battlefield, Daragoth still had some questions for the shades and was hoping they would bother to answer him. "Can i ask you guys something?" Daragoth asked as pollitely as he could.

"Of course sire..." Daragoth was reliefed that he would finally get an honest answer. "Just where exactly are we?" "We are on Fastoon sire home of the Lombaxes, Time: 481 years in the future from now." Daragoth blinked, so the rumors were true, it was in fact a time altering plane.  
"But what are we doing here?" "It is here where you will learn more of your role in this universe..." Daragoth hoped his last question would also be answered. "One more...what is going on here?" "We are in the middle of a battle between the Lombaxes and that little squirt of a Cragmite Tachyon"

After saying that the shade looked at Daragoth as he was waiting for him to say something, Daragoth just shook his head, clearly not knowing who this Tachyon was and neither reckoned the word Cragmite. The shade sighed "Should we tell him?"

"...No, we have said enough already" They said to one another. Daragoth wanted to ask them about it but he saw they had made up their minds and wouldn´t tell him a thing. They continued to drift in the air and Daragoth could often see Lombaxes fighting troops or dead bodies and ruins of buildings, just watching all this made Daragoth sleepy for some strange reason.

After floating in the air for some time they landed on a spire outside the city. "What are we doing here?" " Now we must wait..." Daragoth stayed still and hoped he wouldn´t have to wait long.

A few minutes passed before Daragoth saw a Lombax run out of the city with a group of guards chasing her. Daragoth felt a stream of pain scorching it´s way down his spine when he could see her clearly, it was agony only to look at her.

Daragoth wondered why it took only a few words and sights to make him suffer like this, he couldn´t find any explaination other than that they had to be some kind of tests. The female Lombax was far gone from the city but the guards had not given up on the chase, they had chased her to a chasm and there was no escape.

"Can´t we do something to help her!" "We cannot interfere with time sire and besides...that is not our job he he" Daragoth did not like the sound of that, the Galactic Crusaders were meant to be warriors of justice and whatever the shades were mumbling about it sounded a bit unlike what he had been trained to do.

He didn´t want to think about that at the moment though especially becuse he didn´t want to anger the shades. He looked at the hopeless face of the Lombax, her emerald green eyes were stunned and her fur was rising with fear.

Daragoth looked at her he wanted nothing more than to feel sorry for her and strangly he couldn´t. "What is happening to me...?" He thought with both hands covering his face. Suddenly he could see a large cluster of energy emitting over the chasm, bolts of lightning pounded the air and in the middle of it all he could see a figure channeling the energy.

The thunder tendrils struck every trooper on the ground and once the area was clear the figure landed smoothly in front the Lombax. Daragoth could see the female bow before the mysterius stranger although apparently it seemed that she knew him rather well.

"Let´s take a closer look now shall we young master" One of the shades said and instantly levitated them all down closer. The Lombax and the figure were still talking, Daragoth saw tears in her eyes and she hugged the stranger who tried comfort her all he could.

When Daragoth stepped in closer he was more suprised than he had ever been in his life. "Osmeadus!" He said with his jaw dropped, "Ahh yes it seems the old man still has it in him does he not? Hee hee" "What is he doing here?" "Well sire, this IS the future..." "Oh right"

When the two were done talking a dropship was making it´s way down to the chasm, it had the insignia of the Galactic Crusaders and two guards were opening the bay doors to let them in. Daragoth then watched them fly up to the skies, so many things were going through his head he could bareley tell if he was awake or fast asleep. Wherever this was going it was heading nowhere good.

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Yup there it is and i hope i haven´t let anyone down.


	4. A dark destiny

Daragoth watched the ship fly up to the skies it continued rise higher and higher until it was no longer visible. He was still trying to figure out what Osmeadus had been doing here and how he knew the Lombax female that came running out of the city, Daragoth had known Osmeadus for nine years and he had never kept a secret from him or anyone else so he knew whoever the Lombax was it was someone that Osmeadus didn´t know yet, someone he had yet to meet in the future.

The two shades just kept staring at the Lombax city wich was still in flames, they were so silent it was rather scary just to look at them. Finally one of them spoke:"Well then young master...shall we proceed?" Daragoth wanted to say no but he knew that would just bring him trouble so he aprooved and the shades opened another portal.

They went through the portal quietly and before them was probably the most stunning sight Daragoth had ever seen.

It was a huge hall covered with golden columns and statues of famous heroes, after only a few seconds of gawking at this incredible place made Daragoth realize that this was the legendery citadel of the Galactic Crusaders.

„I...i don´t belive it" „Ahh yes the elder council of Torafa is quite the remarkable place isn´t it? he he" Daragoth didn´t pay attention to a word the shade said he was to busy exploring, the citadel had about 900 bedrooms, 450 libraries and a meeting room the size of a moon in the middle of the building.

They walked for a couple of minutes often bumping into some unaware GC´s, most of them wore golden armors and robes probably enchanted.

The deeper they went into the citadel the more and more people they ran into and everyone seemed to be in a hurry, Daragoth was starting to get uncomfortable about what was going on but at least nobody could hear him or see him...except for the shades of course but of all beings he trusted them the less.

When they reached the lower parts of the citadel Daragoth went from uncomfortable to paranoid, he noticed groups of senators and mages were evacuating their quarters and heading for the meeting room.

Daragoth couldn´t take it much longer the suspence was killing him, finally he asked: „May i ask where we´re going?" „Your final test is near..." Daragoth swallowed, the last test would definetely be the toughest and more painful then before.

„You have survived the first two trials but can you finnish the cycle?" „If so you will have the key to your powers...your TRUE powers" It didn´t take long for them to reach the meeting room, thousands of GC members gathered in that enormous chamber made Daragoth feel like a tiny insect.

There was a huge table in the middle and twenty elders sat around it, a larger seat was at the end of the table reserved for the lead elder.

Everyone took their seats and waited for the lead elder, after a few minutes of waiting he finally arrived.

He was an argonian and a tall one at that, he wore a white robe and a hood wich concealed his appearence.

Daragoth felt like there was something familliar about him, the way that he moved was telling him something.

When the elder sat down he removed the hood and then Daragoth saw who it was, it was Morrolk his rival back at the academy the guy who humilliated him and turned all of his friends against him.

Daragoth was bursting with anger to think that he of all people could deserve the honor to be the lead elder of Torafa.

„Prepare yourself master..." The shade said suddenly.

Morrolk was about to begin his speech: „My brothers and sisters i have called this urgent meeting becuse a new threat has emerged among us, an unknown criminal was seen blowing up four of our guard posts located across the Inila galaxy, our sources haven´t told me much but i do know that he is an extremly dangerous user of dark magic" The people inside were shocked and started to panic and even some of the other elders got jumpy.

What was keeping Daragoth busy was the fact that Morrolk had changed, he seemed more mature and calm but that didn´t make him feel any better, to him Morrolk was just the same stupid brute that used to pick on the weaker apprentices.

Daragoth was so deeply focused on hate he completely forgot what was happening around him, one of the shades got his attention: „I hope you are prepared sire soon you will face him again..." „Huh?" Daragoth said puzzled Morrolk had his hands full getting the people to calm down: „Please be seated everyone!" In a flash the racket stopped, Daragoth was not amused to see how well the people responded to Morrolk even Valon the never got such respect.

Suddenly an image appeared on the table, the projection showed a man dressed in a cloak and a metal plate worn over it with strange markings, Daragoth recognised those markings from the book.

The projection started to talk: „Hahahaha ahh i see you have been preparing for my arrival hehehe how very nice of you" The elders were shivering in their seats and they had a good reason to, that voice could make pile of bones start dancing around.

Morrolk was the only one who didn´t fear the unknown villian...yet. „You see i´d very much like to have everything clean when I IMMOLIATE THIS PATHETIC ROCK THAT YOU LIKE TO CALL A PLANET!" Morrolk seemed angry and stood up „Who are you and why have you taken this role!" „Why Morrolk i am baffled at your lousy memory..." Morrolk was surprised that the villian knew his name. „After all we´we been through you couldn´t bother to stamp a single memory in that tiny hollow brain of yours!" The insults had no affect on Morrolk although they did rile up the crowd.

„Don´t you remember?" Suddenly Morrolk´s face became pale and his eyes widened.

„That´s right...you see it now?" Those words were turning Morrolk from pale to white.

„Well then i really must be on my way, i´ll see you on the battlefield my thick headed friend ha ha ha ha ha ha HAHAHA!" The projection dissappeared and the crowd went silent.

„I guess this is our cue to leave" One of the shades said and instantly teleported them out before Daragoth could ask why.

They came through the portal in mid air with Daragoth crashing to the ground but shades dissappeared, Daragoth looked at his surroundings still with a major headache this time he was on a cliff.

When he could stand up he noticed the sky was unusually red, he also heard loud screams and the sound of weapons smashing into each other.

He slowly stumbled closer to the cliff and the sounds became clearer and he began to see better, finally he recovered but that did not put an end to his fear before him stood a war.

It was a battle between the Galactic Crusaders and some kind of creatures, at first it seemed impossible to Daragoth that the GC could loose but the closer he got a look at those mysterius creatures the more his hopes died.

They were monsters who ran on dark magic and Daragoth wondered if the villian who appeared on the projector had something to do with this.

The creatures were uglier than an Azorian squid and they reeked of brimstone, their weapons were one of a kind though Daragoth could see tridents, double daggers and unusually shaped axes.

Soon he felt a familliar aura eminating from behind he looked around and saw the shades coming his way again.

„I suppose this journey has been rather chaotic for you master" „You bet, is this the part where you tell me what the hell´s going on?" „Hmm we have kept you in darkness long enough and you long for answers..." The shade stopped there and pointed at the conflinct down there.

„This...all of this...is your work master" „Huh? wha-what do you mean?" „You are the Lord of Darkness...you are Daragoth the Great Shadow of Destruction" Daragoth was shocked, he knew that they had wanted him as a leader of some sort but this blew his mind.

„Look i think you may have misunderstood me for someone else...another guy named Daragoth perhaps?" The shades looked at each other for a few seconds and then back at Daragoth „Hee hee i´m afraid it´s not that simple...your heart gives it all away...and the heart never lies" „So what happens now?" „Even though we are certain that you will claim the throne of darkness...you have not finnished the last two tests..." „The third test lies within this place but it won´t be easy to find" The other shade added. „So how will we find it?" The shades were surprised, this was the first time the boy actually seemed coopretive.

Daragoth knew well what they were thinking but was not in the mood to give them an explaination, he felt that now he knew what was going on things were alot easier somehow.

One of the shades started to power up a spell, when he was done he launched it up in the air.

„There that should make this a bit more fair..." „What was that?" „A search spell it connects with the clouds and seeks out our target" „And our target is?" „Who knows it could be anyone down there" And so they waited for the spell to find the third test, they waited for an hour at least and Daragoth was running out of patience: „Why can´t we just go down there find whoever it is who´s supposed to test me!" „We couldn´t risk someone detecting us..." „ Hey wait a second, i thought you said that we couldnt be heard or seen" „The longer we take advantage of this effect the weaker it gets" Daragoth recalled the time he was in the big Lombax building with the shades and they told him about some guards getting in their way.

Finally the search spell found someone, apparently the spell was pointing at a GC camp outside the canyon.

Daragoth could see that the dark creatures we´re gaining the upper hand and the Galactic Crusaders were loosing hope.

They went to the camp by walking around the canyon and the closer they got Daragoth could often see injured soldiers being shipped to the camp, he noticed strange claw marks on their necks and arms, they had a purplish glow and seemed to be inflicting some extra pain.

Daragoth didn´t want to think about what those wounds could cause if not healed.

They walked closer to the camp but the shades stopped again right were they stood „Are we waiting for someone now?" „No sire, we are unable to go any further...your on your own now" The two shades started to fade slowly „Hey WAIT!" „Good luck master..." Their wispers dissapeared into the wind and the two were gone and even if Daragoth disliked the shades he still felt alone.

He continued to the camp walking at a fast pace, when he came to the camp the area was full of victims who needed healing and just soldiers there were also court mages and technologists who had been badly hurt, Daragoth was suprised at how vile those creatures were and no wonder why the GC were losing this battle.

It took Daragoth some time to find the main tent but eventually he found it, when he entered it there was no one inside just a map on a table and a seat. Suddenly he heard footsteps coming his way and someone entered the tent... „Osmeadus...!".

* * *

I´m starting to go deeper into my story now so be prepared...


	5. Dead or alive?

Look for those who like the story please note: I won´t be writing anytime soon (due to my temporal restriction to the internet) but please no matter how long it takes for me to add a new chapter know that i will eventually.

* * *

„Osmeadus!" Daragoth said in his mind. The fully armored elder walked across the the tent and to the map table, he quickly turned around as had heard something and then turned back to the table.

Daragoth felt that the ethereal effect was weakening by the minute he had to act quickly before it dissolved completely, but how was he suppose to get the test? The search spell was still active and it was pointing at Osmeadus so he had to be the test giver.

Daragoth was deep in thought of how he was going to end this nonsense but he wouldn´t have to think much longer. Suddenly he could feel himself being thrown to the deepest pit of despair, he felt his brain melting in the grasp of death. This experience was twice the pain from his last encounters with time.

Daragoth´s last sight was Osmeadus turning around with his jaw dropped and then the darkness took over and he fell into a trance. Daragoth couldn´t see anything but the dark, when he saw Osmeadus something was different about him, something in his eyes was different.

All of this was so confusing, him being an evil tyrant didn´t make any sense and he got the strange feeling that there had to be more to those tests then he was told. Daragoth could feel his powers being drained, he felt as he was dead...wait maybe he was dead, he could have died during the test.

But then Daragoth could feel himself being pulled out of this tiny space and in to the light. He opened his eyes and found that this time a barren planet took over, not a very impressive landscape full of sand and mud mostly. The shades appeared once again on the dusted ground and one of them was carrying a parcel.

„You´re at the end of a long road master and the final test awaits" „You should know that this test will be different from the rest" Daragoth listened with with his senses sharp hoping that this one would be without pain.

„It will be a test of will sire, your will to follow your destiny." The shade holding the parcel walked closer to Daragoth. „Take this, it will not open until you complete the last trial though..." Daragoth took the parcel and looked at it curiosly.

„We shall come for you when you complete the test..." And they vanished into thin air. Daragoth walked the planes for hours and wished another search spell was on, without it he never would have found Osmeadus earlier.

Then he suddenly remembered he had powers too, even if he didn´t know how to cast a search spell he was an expert in the arts of healing. After several tries Daragoth realized his powers were out, no matter what he did they just wouldn´t work.

He decided to give up and continue his journey.

He kept walking till sundown when he could see a ship crashing down to the surface, it was an old worn out dropship and barely flyable. The ship crashed close to Daragoth´s location and he could see the smoke from the site.

He hurried up the hill as fast as he could in case somebody survived, when he came there were no signs of life only chunks of burned metal. Daragoth exemined the wreck hoping to find some pointers to his quest, he was about to give up and go on when he heard a little meepy sound coming from the wreck.

He hurried back to it and started digging, the more trash he threw away the stronger the sound got and soon he could hear it was a cry.

Daragoth pulled away the last scraps of junk and saw an image that would be stuck in his mind forever, it was a lombax baby. Daragoth looked at it for a while with a grin on his face, suddenly he realized that this was no innocent grin he had there, horrible thoughts started to appear in his head, him hurting the child in ways he couldn´t describe!

The pictures were just to much, the evil that was brewing in his head, all of this was enough to make him pass out and eventually it did. Daragoth woke up again all blurred but clear enough to remember everything, he stood up and saw a place that could only possibly exist in a nightmare.

It was a giant castle filled with the power of darkness, he walked on and into the castle hoping to see the shades but instead he was greeted someone alot worse...a darker figure of himself.

He looked like the one he saw in the dream but...it couldn´t be him, that was not him he was no bloodthirsty monster...or was he? „Come now little one, come to me so we can become ONE!" The darker one insisted.

„What do mean become one?" „Foolish little vermin...don´t you see yet? you are incomplete! You deny who you are and what your purpose is!" He pointed at his arms Daragoth looked and saw his skin growing purple like the other one´s skin.

„No..NO!" „Hehee your a fool to think you can escape your destiny" „I´m not like you...you are a monster!" „Now now just relax it will all be over soon hahahahHAHAHAHAHAAAHHAA!"

Daragoth could feel his eyelids getting heavy, drowsiness took over and he fell asleep. Daragoth woke by the smell of blood, to a refreshing change he was in the same place before only a bit closer to the gate. The smell came from the yard full of rotting corpses and blood pools.

He couldn´t bear to look at those horrors, Daragoth ran into the castle wishing this would all go away.

He tripped over something on the way and saw it was the package the shades had given him, he picked it up and wondered if he should open it.

„I finnished the test so should be able to open this thing..." He started to rip it up slowly he didn´t want to take the chance a rabid jack-in-the-box was in there. When he was done he found a black cloak inside it, the castle was chilly and the cloak was warm so he decided put it on with caution.

As soon as the cloak touched him he felt a strange aura coming over him, it renewed him completely and he felt stronger than ever. „Yes...this...is true power! " Suddenly the cloak took him deeper into the castle on it´s own but this time Daragoth wasn´t afraid, he felt...at home!


	6. The throne

After going through a series of tunnels Daragoth ended up in a room filled with darkness, there was not a light to be seen anywhere. A voice echoed through the chamber: "Welcome back master, i have been waiting for you for some time but none of that matters now that you´re here..."

"I have suffered much through this this journey...SO TELL ME! why am i here?" Daragoth replied not hiding his anger. "You have finished every last one of the trials the shades gave you...therefore we know that you ARE Daragoth!"

Suddenly the room lit up and everything became visible and this was definetely NOT the place to go for a picnic, it was a circular chamber with lava surrounding it and was dotted with dark runes, but the thing that topped it all was the throne at the edge of the chamber, two large braziers with black flames where possitioned at both sides of the throne and a hooded Cragmite stood by it.

"I´m yours to command...master" he said gleefully, the young Markazian just watched in awe, his mind was calculating everything that had just happened and suddenly he realized what was going on, he realized who he was and more importantly what would happen next.

"I remember now..." He said with a grin. "Come Sathyx, soon a new age will dawn!" With that said creatures of dark magic sprouted from the ground and bowed before their master. A horrifying laugh could be heard deep within the hallowed halls of that nightmarish kingdom and Daragoth was indeed right, a new age was at our doorsteps and i only wish i could have seen it coming.

50.000 years have past since then, this universe will always be in turmoil but i may have found a way to put an end to it all, by constructing a team of young heroes i may one day be able to rebuild the Galactic Crusade and bring justice once more to the universe. I have found most of those heroes worthy of my cause...but i am missing two...


End file.
